


Endless Summer

by sunkelles



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidfic, Misunderstandings, Pre-Femslash, Situation Based on the fic Wild World, Snaibsel Pride 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 12:31:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11313459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: Zatanna Zatara doesn't want to go to summer camp.





	Endless Summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [titaniumsansa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/gifts).



> 1\. inspired by wild world where bruce wayne adopts zatanna after giovanni becomes dr fate  
> 2\. minimal cursing because zatanna is a youngster that i don't think would have been exposed to it. if this were artemis's pov there would be much more of it  
> 3\. someone save dinah from this fic she doesn't get paid enough for this shit. she just sighs this whole damn fic  
> 4\. there is no child abuse depicted in this fic, but it is referenced and the situation which created it is not resolved by the end of the fic. i wanted to warn for that in advance.

Zatanna crosses her arms over her chest as she leans against Bruce’s black SUV. The “parking lot” at this camp is a glorified field of grass. It rained last night, and there are muddy ruts left all throughout the field and little muddy puddles scattered everywhere. It’s disgusting and rundown and everywhere that Zatanna doesn’t want to spend three weeks of her summer.

“I don’t want to go to this stupid camp.” Bruce pulls the two duffel bags out of the back, and Robin grabs his  _ Avengers  _ backpack and slides it on. Then he grabs her  _ Hex Girls  _ one and hands it to her. She takes it, and sighs as she puts it on. 

“Come on, Zee,” Robin says, “it’s gonna be great.” Robin hasn’t shut up about how excited he is for camp since Zatanna moved in with him and Bruce three months ago. Zatanna takes a step away from the vehicle as Bruce slams down the trunk door. 

“Maybe for you,” she mutters. Bruce looks disappointed in her. 

“You need to be around kids your age,” Bruce says, “you can’t hide in your room forever, Zatanna.” 

“I could,” Zatanna says. That’s what she’s been doing since she moved in with them. It just doesn’t seem like it’s worth it anymore. 

“But you shouldn’t,” Bruce says. She doesn’t want to have to talk to _anyone_. She doesn’t want to have to go camping and make crafts and go to campfires. She just wants to curl up in her bed and listen to sad songs. She doesn’t want to go have fun when her dad is dead and buried. 

“You’re not my dad,” Zatanna snips. 

“No, I’m not,” he says, “but I am your guardian. And I say you have to do this.” Then he hands her her purple duffel bag, and hands Robin his red one. Robin bounces ahead towards the big, wooden building in the distance. 

They walk into the building, and find a redheaded girl sitting at a white plastic table. She has a few pens, and sheets of paper, and then three small containers full of cards inside of them. They walk up to the table, and the girl looks up from her papers and smiles at them. 

“Last name?”

“Grayson,” Robin says. She digs through the cards, and pulls out one. It’s yellow, and looks like there’s a lot of personal information written on it. 

“Richard?” 

“Ew,” Robin says, “call me Robin. Or Dick.” The girl grins. 

“I think I’ll call you _ Robin, _ then,” she says. Then she makes a little note on his chart about his preferred nickname. Then she puts it back where it came from. 

“Is yours Grayson too? We’ve got a Gwendolyn in here.” 

“Zatara,” Zatanna says. The girl moves on to a whole different box of cards, and goes straight to the back.

“Zatanna?” the girl asks. Zatanna nods. 

“Any allergies we might have missed, or food preferences?” 

“I’m vegetarian,” she says evenly. 

“Don’t worry, we already have that down,” the girl says, smiling at her. 

“Okay,” she says, “so Robin is in the orange cabin-” Robin cheers. 

“And Zatanna, you’re in the green cabin.” Zatanna does not cheer. 

“Do you guys know where they are? I can get someone to take you there if you need that.” Robin rolls his eyes. 

“I know this camp like the back of my hand. I can get us there.” Robin leads them out of the building, and then across a field. They pass three wooden cabins, a swimming pool, a basketball court, and then come to a line of four cabins. Robin stops in front of the first one. 

“Is this yours?” Bruce asks. 

“Nah, this is Zee’s,  _ I’m  _ in the old mess hall.” He says this with a big grin on his face, like being in the old mess hall is the most exciting thing that could possibly happen to him. Robin opens the screen door, and holds it open for them like the small gentleman that he is. 

Then he lets the door slam behind him, like the small child that he is. He runs forward, and nearly jumps onto a blonde girl. He hugs her tightly. 

“Artemis!” 

“Robin!" The girl laughs as she hugs him back. 

“What are you doing here?” Artemis asks, plying his arms off of her. 

“Dropping Zee off.” He points at her. Artemis smiles at her. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” Zatanna forces a smile back. 

“Nice to meet you too.” Artemis gestures to the bunk right beside them. The top bunk is already made up, and has a backpack sitting on top of it. 

“That’s my bunk. Wanna take the bottom?” 

“I’d like to share, but I was kinda hoping for a top bunk too.” 

“That’s cool,” Artemis says, “we can be beside each other instead.” Zatanna picks out the bunk beside Artemis’s, and throws her backpack and duffle bag on top of it. 

“You can go,” Zatanna says, gesturing towards Bruce and Robin. Artemis looks confused.

“Don’t you want help setting your bed up? Or with introductions?” Robin asks. He sounds so confused that Zatanna would want them to leave right away. 

“You want them to _leave_?” Artemis asks. 

“I think I can handle it,” Zatanna says. Then Artemis starts glaring. 

“Come on Robin,” Bruce says, putting a hand on his shoulder, “let’s go get you settled.” Robin sends her one last look, but then decides that Zatanna not wanting help is her own problem. 

“Get traught, Robin.” Robin grins widely, and points his finger guns at Artemis. 

“Get traught,” he says. Then he turns around and starts almost bouncing towards the exit. Bruce sends her one last look, then turns to follow him. 

“I can’t  _ wait  _ to see Wally,” he says, and Zatanna can hear the smile in his voice. 

“Yeah,” Bruce says, “I know.” 

“We’re in the same cabin, right?” 

“Well,” Bruce says, opening up the screen door, “I might have pulled a few strings.” Then they’re both through the door, and whatever else they say Zatanna doesn’t hear. Artemis doesn’t stop glaring, and Zatanna tries not to let that bug her as she sets up her bed. 

This is going to be a long three weeks. 

  
  
  


 

All the rest of the girls show up within the next hour, and their counselor, Dinah, decides to take them out by the lake do introductions and “fun, team-building games” which sounds awful to Zatanna, but she doesn’t say anything. She just pulls her hair up in a ponytail and puts on some sunscreen and bug spray before they make the fifteen minute hike to the lake. 

When they get there, Dinah has them sit in a circle right by the lake. Zatanna picks a dandelion from beside her and slowly picks the flower apart. 

"What are you excited for at camp this summer, Zatanna?” Dinah asks. Zatanna keeps picking at her dandelion. 

"Zatanna?" She sighs as she realizes she will have to answer. 

“Nothing,” Zatanna says. 

“Nothing?” Dinah asks, “not even s’mores? Or hiking? Or campfire songs?” 

“Nothing,” Zatanna repeats. She goes back to picking at her dandelion. Dinah sighs, but she moves onto the other girls. All of them have generic camp activities that they say until Artemis comes around. 

“Artemis?” 

“I’m just excited to not be at home.” 

“You mean you’re excited to be at camp.” 

“No I’m excited  _ not to be at home.  _ Dad’s a piece of crap-” 

“Artemis,” Dinah says, “language.” 

“Sorry,” Artemis says, smiling a sassy smile, “he’s a pile of poop? Is that better?” Zatanna glares. How could she say something like that? 

How could she want to get away from her dad? Zatanna would do anything,  _ anything  _ to be able to go back home to hers. Artemis should just be grateful that she has one. What right does Artemis have to glare at her like that and then say that about her dad? Zatanna had thought that she liked this girl, but she’d been so wrong. There’s definitely nothing to like about Artemis.

Dinah sighs. 

“Alright,” she says, “let’s move on to Megan.” Dinah asks a few more questions, they play a few more name games and general icebreakers and then it’s time for dinner. Dinner bleeds into a hike to the campfire spot, and then the campfire starts.  The campfire consists of s’mores and campfire songs, and Zatanna just pouts in the corner. 

“Don’t you want to go have fun with the other kids?” Dinah asks. 

“I don’t want to be here,” she says. Dinah sighs, but lets her mope. 

They sing “I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee”, “Campfire Song Song”, “God Bless My Underwear”, “Found a Peanut” and “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” (Robin’s suggestion, of course). They make s’mores that Zatanna doesn’t eat, and then they walk back to the cabin. All the girls are laughing and talking except Zatanna. Zatanna walks back in silence, and hopes that these three weeks will go by faster than she thinks they will. 

  
  
  


 

The next few days, they do all of the camp activities that Zatanna expects. They hike. They swim, both in the pool and the lake. They run. They make arts and crafts. They tie dye shirts. They play capture the flag. They go mountain biking. Zatanna enjoys some of it, but she’d never admit it. 

Then they go to a clearing in the woods for archery. The counselors show them how to do it, and everyone is having a hard time with it. Everyone except Artemis, of course. Artemis looks like Hawkeye or something. She draws the bow back, and the arrow flies forward. It lands right in the middle of the target. 

“Wow!” all the girls exclaim. 

“You’re like Merida,” Megan says. Artemis smiles. Zatanna grumbles under her breath. She can do this too. Artemis isn’t the only one that can shoot a bow. If Artemis can do it, then she can too. At least she doesn’t call her  _ living dad  _ a piece of crap. 

Zatanna pulls it back as far as she can (which isn’t all the way) and she lets the arrow loose. It falls halfway between her and the target. The girls laugh. Artemis smiles at her softly. 

“Hey, it’s alright,” she says, “you weren’t gonna hit the bullseye the first time you shot off an arrow.” Zatanna should really leave it at that. This is the nicest that Artemis has been to her since the moment they were introduced, and she really likes seeing her smile instead of glare. Instead, Zatanna runs her mouth. 

“How did you become an expert in archery?” 

“Only good thing my dad ever taught me,” Artemis says. Zatanna doesn’t believe that, but she doesn’t say anything. 

“ _ Sure  _ it was,” Zatanna says. 

“Do you have something to say to me?” Artemis asks, clutching her bow tighter. Dinah looks exhausted when she comes over. 

“Can you girls just get along for three minutes?” Neither Artemis nor Zatanna say anything. They just glare at each other. Dinah sighs. 

“Artemis!” Megan calls, “Can you help me!” Artemis turns towards her friend. 

“Can I Dinah?” Dinah nods. Artemis runs over to Megan, leaving Dinah and Zatanna all alone. 

“You two are gonna have to work this out eventually.” Zatanna wants to tell Dinah that isn’t gonna happen, but she doesn’t actually want to piss her counselor off. Instead she bites her tongue and doesn’t talk to Artemis for the rest of the day. 

  
  
  
  
  


The days pass. They hike. They swim. They make arts and crafts. They sing songs. They hike again. They swim again. 

Everything seems to repeat, and it seems like the days bleed together. Nothing seems to change, until they walk to the lake one day and they go canoeing. This one? This one’s new.

It’s not more fun. It’s not more exciting, but it is different. This one involves a whole pile of oars and nasty orange life jackets, and a small armada of canoes. 

“I don’t want to go with her,” Artemis says. Zatanna rolls her eyes. She knows that Artemis doesn’t like her. She doesn’t like her either. She tries not to let it hurt her. It’s just a fact of life at this point, and facts of life shouldn’t hurt. But sometimes facts of life are like her dad being dead, and they hurt all the same. 

“Look,” Dinah says, “you two _are_ going to get along. We have two weeks left of camp. You can’t keep this up.” 

“Sure we can,” Zatanna says. Dinah looks like she’s not getting paid enough for this. 

“You  _ are  _ both going to get in this canoe, and you  _ are _ going to learn something about teamwork.” Artemis glares. 

“Why do we need to work together?” 

“You’re cabin mates,” Dinah says, “it’s getting tiring to watch you two fight. The other girls have noticed and they’re tired of it.” Artemis looks guilty that their feud has convinced their cabin mates. Zatanna would feel guilty if she believed that it happened and that Dinah didn’t just make that up to get them to get along. 

“Put on your life jackets, and get in that canoe.” Dinah crosses her arms over her chest, and sends them a look. Zatanna resigns herself to her fate. 

“Hey, can you pass me a jacket?” Zatanna asks. Artemis chucks one at her, and it hits her in the face. She’s really glad that the side with the plastic buckles didn’t hit her. It’s just the soft and dirty side. 

“Gee,” Zatanna says, picking up the life jacket, “thanks. Arty.” She really hates this girl, this girl who still has a dad and hates him so much. 

“Happy to help.” Zatanna brushes off the heavy layer of dust, and then puts on the hideous life jacket. The only good part about this is that Artemis looks just as bad in the life jacket as she does, if not worse. Orange might looks worse with Artemis’s blonde hair than it does with Zatanna’s black hair. 

Even though Artemis’s hair looks kind of shiny in the sunlight, like Rapunzel’s when she starts singing in  _ Tangled _ . Zatanna pushes the thought away.

They both grab an oar, and then walk out onto the dock. Zatanna sits in the front half, and Artemis sits in the back. 

“Try to play nice,” Dinah asks them. Artemis rolls her eyes, then she pushes her oar into the water and pushes the canoe a little bit. It’s not a dramatic exit by any means, but Zatanna doesn’t want to be stuck here either. She puts her oar in the water too, and pushes too. They get away from the dock a little faster that way.

 

They snap at each other occasionally as they disagree about which way to steer the canoe. Eventually they just get to the point where they don’t talk, though. That makes it a lot easier. They don’t snap at each other, and they just sort of float there in the middle of the lake. 

It’s serene, almost, even though they can hear the other girls laughing and splashing at each other. Zatanna wants to ask why Artemis hates her, but Zatanna thinks that might be counterproductive. She hates her too. 

Instead she asks, “Why do you hate your dad?” 

“He’s an a-hole.” 

“But  _ why,”  _ Zatanna demands, “what makes him an a-hole.” Artemis turns around and looks at her like she’s stupid. 

“Do you think that everyone must have some fairy tale dad just ‘cause yours is dead?” Zatanna just feels rage. 

“My dad  _ is  _ dead and you  _ have  _ one.  And you're acting like you have the worse end of this deal." Artemis pulls up her t-shirt to reveal multiple scars on her stomach, and t hat’s on top of those on her arms. The ones that Zatanna had been wondering where they'd come from. 

“Wait, are those from-" 

“You wanna know I got these scars?” Artemis jokes. Zatanna gets the reference, even though her dad never watched that movie. She watched it a few weeks ago when Robin downloaded it on his i-Pad. They watched about half of it before Bruce caught them. He decided since they were already that far they might as well just put the rest of it on the big TV and watch it together. Zatanna doesn't remember that whole movie, but she remembers the Joker loud and clear. She realizes what Artemis is trying to tell her. 

“Your dad gave you those?” 

“Not all of them,” Artemis says, which is a confirmation that he gave her  _ some  _ of them. Zatanna feels angry and guilty and so  _ ashamed  _ for the way that she’s acted. 

“He’s a fucking wack job.” Zatanna’s still so angry and shocked that she can’t even process the fact that Artemis just said the  _ f word.  _

“Artemis, I’m sorry.” 

"That’s not why I was mad at you, Zatanna.” 

“Then why?” 

“You have this awesome dude stepping into raise you, and you just- just-” 

“What?” 

“You were treating him like crap!” Artemis says, making a big, angry gesture with her hands. Zatanna tries not to blow up at that.

“Bruce isn’t my dad.” No one is ever going to be her dad. Her dad is dead, and she’s tired of Bruce trying. 

“He’s not,” Artemis says, “but he's better than _mine_." 

“My dad is  _ nothing  _ like yours,” Zatanna says. 

“Bruce isn’t either.” 

“Look, I know that guy. I’ve known Robin since his parents died, and Bruce has been so good for him.” 

“What’s your point?” Zatanna asks. She crosses her arms over her chest. She's listening, even though she doesn't really want to be. 

“Bruce isn’t your dad, but he’s not your evil stepmother either.” Zatanna nods. 

“I think I see your point.” It seems like this was one big misunderstanding. Zatanna was mad that Artemis was disregarding her living father, but he turned out to be awful. Artemis was mad that Zatanna was disregarding Bruce because he wasn’t her father. She feels really bad about that now. 

“Are we cool now?” Artemis asks. Zatanna nods. Artemis spits into her hand. 

“Shake on it?” Zatanna doesn’t really want to do that. It seems gross, but she does want to bury the hatchet.  Zatanna moves her arm to start the saliva handshake, and sends her oar flying off the canoe. 

“Oh no." Zatanna immediately turns her attention to the oar dangling in the water about a foot from the canoe. 

“Be careful,” Artemis tells her. Zatanna stands up carefully, and carefully reaches out of the canoe to catch her oar. It’s slightly out of her reach, so she carefully leans forward. Then, Zatanna falls off the edge. A second later, her entire body is in the water. Her wet hair is coating her face, and Artemis is shouting.

“Zatanna! Are you okay?” Zatanna holds up a thumb as she forces the hair out of her face. She treads water even though she doesn't need to with her life jacket. 

“Here,” Artemis says, offering her a hand, “I’ll give you a lift.” Zatanna considers letting Artemis pull her up for exactly one second. Then she pulls Artemis over the side instead. The water splashes around her as she falls in, and Artemis’s wet hair goes everywhere. 

“You  _ jerk!”  _ Artemis says, but she’s laughing so hard Zatanna doesn’t think she means it. Artemis grabs her by the shoulders, and she’s still laughing. They’re both laughing in the middle of a lake, and nothing else seems to matter. 

“Artemis! Zatanna!” Dinah calls. 

“Yeah!” Artemis shouts. 

“Do you need help?” 

“No,” Zatanna says, grinning, “I think we’re fine where we are.” They swim to the beach when the rest of the girls are done swimming, and Dinah marches them to the cabin to get their shower stuff and then get ready for dinner. She’s stern with them, but Zatanna can’t help noticing how glad Dinah is that they’re finally getting along.

“Dinah? Can I make a phone call?” The kids aren’t allowed to bring their cell phones to camp, but the counselors are allowed to have them in case of emergencies.

“What is it Zatanna?” Dinah asks. 

“I want to apologize to someone.” Dinah doesn’t question it. She gets out her phone. 

“You can use it for five minutes,” she says, handing Zatanna her phone. Zatanna clicks the home button on her i-Phone and goes to the emergency call section. Then she dials Bruce’s number. She’s so relieved when he picks up. 

“Bruce!” 

“Zatanna? Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Then he pauses for a second. 

“Is Robin hurt?” 

“No, no,” she says, “I’m alright. I just- I wanted to say that I’m sorry about how I’ve been acting.” Bruce doesn’t respond. 

“I know I’ve been a brat,” she says, “it’s just- you’re not my dad, and I’ve been so mad about that.” 

“I know what it’s like to lose a parent, Zatanna,” Bruce says, “it’s natural to lash out.” 

“But you’ve been so awesome and I’ve just been awful.” 

“Zatanna,” he says, “you don’t have to thank me for taking you in. You needed me, and I wouldn’t have done anything different. You could have set the house on fire and I still would have treated you right.” Zatanna giggles. 

“That’s not permission to set Wayne Manor on fire,” Bruce says. Zatanna makes an “eh” sound. Bruce sighs. 

“I’m kidding,” she says. 

“I know, Zatanna,” Bruce says, soft and fond. It’s a tone that’s normally reserved for Robin when he’s being silly. Zatanna smiles. 

“Thanks Bruce.” 

“Goodbye, Zatanna,” he says, “have a good rest of camp.” Zatanna takes the phone off of her ear, and hangs up. Dinah doesn’t say anything, but puts her phone back in her pocket. She smiles the whole walk back to the mess hall.

They eat dinner, and Zatanna talks to people for the whole meal. Then they go to the campfire, and Zatanna actually sings and eats s’mores and acts like someone who wants to be there. She does now. She realizes that is exactly what she needed to start living again. She needed to get away from it all and just have fun with other kids her age. 

She needed to  _ let  _ herself have fun. 

 

 

 

When they get back to the cabin, Zatanna doesn’t go to sleep. Artemis doesn’t either.  They look at each other from across their bunks and they make funny faces at each other. They giggle and smile, and Dinah tells them to be quiet. 

They do it quieter, and eventually everyone falls asleep around them. Zatanna climbs down from her bunk, clutching her flashlight in her hand. Artemis follows her down. They head towards the door. Somehow they both decide to sneak out without any words, and once they’re past the door they’re giggling and discussing where they’re going to go.

They head out to the lake, and their flashlights do less to light their path than the bright shining of the stars and moon do. When they get to the lake, they sit on the beach and look out onto the water. The moon reflects on the water. They hold hands with one hand, and they throw stones with the other, disrupting the calm water of the lake. The light of the moon ripples and sways with every stone. 

Artemis tells stories about other years at camp, and Zatanna tells her about the places that she’s been and the funny times that she failed at learning a magic trick. 

Here there are no awful dads, and no dead ones. Right now it’s just two girls holding hands on the beach and hoping that summer will last forever. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope that you guys liked it! i worked way harder on this one than i planned to


End file.
